BOSTON (DA) — Ceddanne Rafaela came off the bench and delivered another late-game swing for Boston, hitting his first career pinch-hit home run Wednesday to lift the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway Park.
The Curaçao center fielder entered in the sixth inning with the game tied 1-1 and hit a two-run homer off Orion Kerkering with two outs, putting Boston ahead for good.
“I think I stay calm,” Rafaela said. “I really want to be in those situations every time. Sometimes I don’t do the job. Sometimes I do. I had a chance yesterday, but I didn’t do it.”
Rafaela had struck out with two runners on and one out in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to Philadelphia. On Wednesday, he wanted the moment again.
“And I wanted to be in the situation today, and it came true,” he said.
Rafaela finished 1-for-1 with a run scored and 2 RBIs. His fourth homer of the season gave him 19 RBIs and raised his average to .281 with a .775 OPS. Boston improved to 18-24, while Philadelphia fell to 20-23.
The decisive at-bat came after Rafaela fell behind 1-2. Kerkering’s fourth pitch was a 96.8 mph fastball, and Rafaela did not miss it.
“I was hunting a fastball, looking for a fastball,” Rafaela said. “He threw me two sweepers, so I was just looking for the fastball.”
Interim manager Chad Tracy did not start Rafaela because he wanted the left-handed bats of Mickey Gasper and Masataka Yoshida in the lineup against Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter. But Tracy said before the game Rafaela would likely appear late, and he turned to him once Philadelphia brought in left-hander Tanner Banks. The Phillies then countered with Kerkering.
“Plainly put, right on rights are always a little bit better than left on lefts,” Tracy said. “And you know you want the defense out there. We’re at the point of the game where we want the center fielder out there and it’s going to be a right on right and he’s got the ability to lose one. Just a great at-bat.”
Trevor Story also homered for Boston, tying the game 1-1 with a solo shot in the second inning. Philadelphia’s only run came on Justin Crawford’s homer in the third.
Sonny Gray earned the win for Boston, allowing 1 run on 2 hits over 6 innings, with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. Aroldis Chapman struck out 3 in the ninth for his ninth save.
Rafaela’s latest big swing continued a strong stretch. He entered Wednesday with 7 RBIs over his previous 6 games and was batting .321 with a .367 on-base percentage and an .885 OPS over his previous 14 games since April 25.
He also entered the game batting .448 against left-handed pitching this season, with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and a 1.260 OPS.
Rafaela has started 36 of Boston’s first 41 games in center field, reaching base safely in 29 of those starts and hitting safely in 26. Since the start of 2024, he ranked second among MLB center fielders in defensive runs saved with 35 and third in outs above average with 30.
“You guys have seen: There is a clutch gene in there with him,” Tracy said. “He tends to get big hits in big moments.”